Chapter Sixty-Two

After all his rules about not wincing, Lena wanted to point out that Dane was doing an awful lot of it as he guided her out of the lodge so he could talk to her.

She wanted to be angry with him and his horrible training skills, but she understood. She wasn’t a trained law enforcement officer, and yet he was going to be stuck with her on a mission. He probably thought she was not an asset…and he was right. She didn’t have any skills to speak of.

But she would die to save her child, so that made her valuable to this mission.

Swallowing down her urge to start begging, she waited for him to actually tell her she was off the team. Hoping she could convince him with sheer determination and stubbornness.

He couldn’t leave her behind.

How would she survive, waiting to hear the outcome of the mission? How could she sit back waiting to find out what happened when Dane and Kenzie were both in danger, and she wasn’t there to help?

She couldn’t.

“I’m sorry,” he said and pressed his lips together. At least he didn’t look happy about it. She waited for the next part. The part where he said, “I’m sorry, but you’re staying behind.”

Except, he didn’t say that. And now he was just standing there in front of her…seemingly waiting for something.

She blinked, and kept her mouth shut.

He let out a breath, and finally spoke. “I’m sorry I was a jerk and wasn’t patient when I was teaching you to shoot. You obviously just needed the right teacher, or teachers. I apologize for acting like an ass.”

Wow.

She couldn’t remember Brandon ever apologizing. For anything. Even when it was clear he was in the wrong. Such as the time he’d used their rent money to buy a mountain bike. He’d stood by the decision even when she had to call his parents and ask for a loan.

Dane’s apology itself was enough to make her mouth fall open in shock, but it was more a matter of what she didn’t hear him say that surprised her the most.

“I still get to go with you?” she asked.

“Yeah. I mean, unless you’ve changed your mind,” he added hopefully.

She gave a small smile. “I didn’t change my mind. I want to be there.” She couldn’t help it—she held her hands in front of her with her fingers threaded together. She was officially begging. And she didn’t care. “Please.”

He looked resigned. “We need everybody we can get. So, yeah, you’re in.”

“Do you think I’m good enough?”

It wasn’t until she’d asked the question that she realized the meaning went deeper than just being able to shoot.

These people had gone through thorough training to be able to handle any possible situation. She’d cut hair. Not exactly life and death. Unless you count the time Macy gave Mrs. Benchoff bangs by accident.

He held up the target and pointed to the cluster of holes in the paper.

“This is better than Justin shoots.” He’d kind of whispered, as if he didn’t want the other man to hear from inside.

She laughed and he leaned down to kiss her.

“You have a sexy laugh,” he said with another kiss. “I hope when this is over and our kids are safe, I’ll get to hear it more often.”

The smile fell from her lips in a new kind of shock.

He was making plans for what happened after the mission? Plans that involved the two of them together and laughing?

She didn’t know how to process that. For the last eight months, her whole life had been consumed with doing whatever needed to be done to get her daughter back. There had been no plans for the future. Even if she’d taken the time to come up with plans, she didn’t think they would have included a man. Especially not a sexy deputy marshal.

After her horrible marriage with Brandon, she didn’t think she’d ever want another man in her life. But now that the thought had been planted, it was growing.

She’d seen Dane at his worst. Filled with hate and panic while puking at the side of the road. He’d wanted to kill her, and she’d hit him and helped abduct him. After all that, the common problems people lived through seemed like cake.

Lena looked down at the gun in her hand and shuddered. She thought of Sam and Angel, and how well they fit into this life of danger. If Lena was able to save Kenzie, she didn’t want that for her daughter.

As much as she liked Dane, she wasn’t sure what kind of future they could have.

She must have taken too long to think it through, though, because Dane sighed and said, “Why don’t you show me how well you shoot now? I’d like to see you in action.”

“Oh. Sure.”

She followed him to the range, feeling as though she’d missed the opportunity of a lifetime.